Thursday, December 27, 2012

Apparently there wasn't as much ham as I thought there was so no need for me to worry about that. We are saving the bone to add flavor to some pinto beans. That should be good.
Jon's cousin has been staying with us this week. Having an 18 year old boy in the house definitely helps when trying to get rid of leftovers. I only had to eat one slice of cheesecake and it is all gone today. Although it was delicious, I was glad to have been spared the calories.
Jon fried chicken for dinner and it was so good. We had the leftover sides along with it. Unfortunately, it was mostly carbs but I did not select the menu. At least between the three of us and a friend who came over, I think they're mostly gone. I'm looking forward to restocking and planning our meals myself.
I caught up on all the laundry, dishes and cleaning. Tomorrow we're going to see my Grandma so I need to get some sleep now.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas at my house means all the leftovers stay at my house. So my first objective is to use or freeze this stuff to avoid waste as much as possible. We're going to Austin this weekend so I may be bringing food with.

As I mentioned before, I think the key is dedication and having a plan. But if they plan does not work for you, then it will not work. Here is my plan:

Food:
1. Follow Allie's Blog for ideas and inspiration.
2. I have recently subscribed to eMeals. It's not absolutely necessary but I really like it because I always have a plan for dinner even if I did not plan ahead. Once again, the plan must work for you and this works for me. I will be doing the Clean Eating plan since it only uses natural ingredients. My goal is to have an answer every time Jon (my husband) asks, "What are we eating for dinner?" (My usual answers being, "I don't know know." or "Let's order a pizza." or even, "Hamburger Helper.")
3. Buy a large freezer.
4. Plan and pre-portion meals so that I can easily grab something and heat it up without staring at a cupboard full of food wondering what I'm going to do with it and then deciding to go to Taco Bell. In case you haven't noticed, I'm very lazy when it comes to food prep, especially when I am hungry.

Exercise:
1. Start small. I don't want to change too much too quickly because I am more likely to fail. I need to start slowly and stick to it.
2. Enlist he help of my friend Ed. He tells me how much to run each week and I will dedicate to running that much.
3. Strength training 2-3 times a week. Once again, starting out small.
4. Train for a 5K. I need a goal to work towards.

Other:
1. Get organized. This will be a long process. I have found great inspiration through The Nest Effect.
2. Get out of debt and get back on track financially. Dave Ramsey is a huge inspiration in that department. When my husband and I were doing the baby steps, we paid off so much debt and saved so much money. We also had fun working together.

Most importantly:
Be a good mom to my daughter and set an example for her. I refuse to tell her she has to eat healthy while I am not.

First of all, I would like to apologize to my good friend Allie, who went through a lot of time and effort in helping me with my endeavors. I have failed you. Also, I have failed myself. I started this blog awhile back as motivation to change my life and to eat healthy. I quickly went back to my old ways and now have a kitchen full of processed food once again. Well, it is the holidays so that does have something to do with it. It sure doesn't help when Christmas is at your house and everyone brings all of the food and various treats to your house and leaves the leftovers for you to consume. Well, I've had enough. I'm tired of using others as an excuse for my lack of self control and will power. I have some pretty amazing friends who have been an inspiration to me. Let me briefly mention a few:

Allie...she makes her own bread, yogurt, jams, etc., things that I never even considered one was capable of making in their own home. But hey, our grandparents did it back in the day so why can't we? She manages a ridiculous school schedule, while still not giving into the "I'm too busy so I'll just hit up the drive-through" attitude. Did I mention she also works?

Josh...lost a ridiculous amount of weight. How? He started riding his bike, learned about nutrition and has the self control to maintain his diet despite others around him who are eating the worst kinds of foods. He is one of the few people I've seen loose a significant amount of weight and keep it off years later.

Ed...a friend from high school who used to be overweight. How did he change? He started running...a lot and eating healthier. He now does ultra-marathons. I've enlisted his help in getting back into running myself.

Knowing all of these people should and has struck some motivation in me.

I graduated from college in August and had my first child in September. My daughter Hannah, is about to be four months old. Call this motivation from her, call it a new year's resolution, or the classic weight loss motivation, but I have to and am going to change my ways. I cannot raise my child to think that French fries are a staple, or taking a multivitamin is a substitute for eating vegetables, or dare I say, that eating Ramen noodles every day for lunch and dinner is OK. (Yes, I am referring to myself.)

Yes, I was raised to eat unhealthy foods. I was raised to hate vegetables and love processed carbs and sugar. I think it's true that we go back to what we were raised eating. I do not want Hannah to do this. I want her to get excited about going to a Mediterranean restaurant and want to try to foods, not go through the ingredient list hoping not to find something you do not like in the mix (Yes, this is me too).

I have spent hours today going thorough Allie's blog and planning out what I will be eating. The first step is to (once again), get rid of the fake food and stock up on the real stuff.

The point is, despite what we all would like to think it true, there is
no "secret" or "easy" way to do this. The magical ingredient is
dedication and we all posses this within us. For some of us (me), that dedication is buried VERY deep inside, but it's there. I have read about countless diets and exercises and yes, they all mostly work. I think the key is that you have to find something that works for you personally. So I am declaring that my new year's resolution is to follow through with what I start and to stop making excuses. Here's to 2013! Stay tuned for more.